There are 22 known members of the Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) family, ranging in size from 17 to 34 kDa and sharing an internal core region of similarity, which can be grouped into 7 subfamilies based on their similarity in activity and sequence (Ornitz et al., Genome Biol. 2:3005.1, 2001). For example, the FGF1 subgroup consists of the prototypical FGFs, FGF1 (acidic FGF) and FGF2 (basic FGF); the FGF4 subgroup consists of FGF4, FGF5 and FGF6; and the FGF7 subfamily consists of FGF3, FGF7, FGF10 and FGF22 (Zhang et al., J. Biol. Chem. 281:15694, 2006).
One form of FGF2 is an 18 kDa non-glycosylated polypeptide consisting of 146 amino acids derived from a 155 aa precursor (Ornitz et al., Genome Biol. 2:3005.1, 2001; Okada-Ban et al., Int. J. Biochem. Cell. Biol. 32:263, 2000). An exemplary sequence for a human 146 amino acid FGF2 is provided in SEQ ID NO:4 of US20020115603. Unlike most other FGFs, FGF2 does not encode a signal sequence for secretion, but the 18 kDa form can be secreted by an unconventional energy-dependent pathway independent of the ER-Golgi complex. The other FGF1 subfamily member, FGF1 itself, has size and structure similar to FGF2 and also lacks a signal sequence but can be secreted. Another FGF of interest here is FGF7, also called keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), which is produced by cells of mesenchymal origin and stimulates epithelial cell proliferation (Finch et al., Adv. Cancer Res. 91:69, 2004; Finch et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 98:812, 2006). KGF is expressed in a number of organs including lung, prostate, mammary, digestive tract and skin and is implicated in organ development and repair of cutaneous wounds (Cho et al., Am. J. Pathol. 170:1964, 2007).
The FGF family members bind to only four known tyrosine kinase receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptors 1-4 (FGFR1-4) and their isoforms, with the various FGFs binding the different FGFRs to varying extents (Zhang et al., J. Biol. Chem. 281:15694, 2006). A protein sequence of human FGFR2 is provided in, e.g., GenBank Locus AF487553. Each FGFR consists of an extracellular domain (ECD) comprising three immunoglobulin (Ig)-like domains (D1, D2 and D3), a single transmembrane helix, and an intracellular catalytic kinase domain (Mohammadi et al., Cytokine Growth Factor Revs, 16:107, 2005) as illustrated in FIG. 1. There is a contiguous stretch of acidic amino acids in the linker between D1 and D2 called the “acid box” (AB). The region containing D1 and AB is believed to be involved in autoinhibition of the receptor, which is relieved by binding to ligand. The FGFRs are characterized by multiple alternative splicing of their mRNAs, leading to a variety of isoforms (Ornitz et al., J. Biol. Chem. 271:15292, 1996; see also Swiss-Prot P21802 and isoforms P21802-1 to -20 for sequences of FGFR2 and its isoforms). Notably, there are forms containing all three Ig domains (α isoform) or only the two Ig domains D2 and D3 domains without D1 (β isoform). Of particular importance in FGFR1-FGFR3, while all forms contain the first half of D3 denoted IIIa, two alternative exons can be utilized for the second half of D3, leading to IIIb and IIIc forms. For FGFR2, these are respectively denoted FGFR2IIIb and FGFR2IIIc (or just FGFR2b and FGFR2c); the corresponding beta forms are denoted FGFR2(beta)IIIb and FGFR2(beta)IIIc. The FGFR2IIIb form of FGFR2 (also denoted K-sam-II) is a high affinity receptor for both FGF1 and KGF whereas FGFR2IIIc (also denoted K-sam-1) binds both FGF1 and FGF2 well but does not bind KGF (Miki et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89:246, 1992). Indeed, FGFR2IIIb is the only receptor for KGF (Ornitz et al., 1996, op. cit.) and is therefore also designated KGFR.
The FGFRs and their isoforms are differentially expressed in various tissues. Notably, FGFR2IIIb (and the IIIb forms of FGFR1 and FGFR3) are expressed in epithelial tissues, while FGFRIIIc is expressed in mesenchymal tissues (Duan et al., J. Biol. Chem. 267:16076, 1992; Ornitz et al., 1996, op. cit.). Certain of the FGF ligands of these receptors have an opposite pattern of expression. Thus, FGF3 subfamily members including FGF7 (KGF) bind only to FGFRIIIb (Zhang et al., op. cit.) and are expressed in mesenchymal tissues so may be paracrine effectors of epithelial cells (Ornitz et al., 1996, op. cit.). In contrast, the FGF4 subfamily members FGF4-6 bind to FGFR2IIIc and are expressed in both epithelial and mesenchymal lineages so may have either autocrine or paracrine functions. Because of the expression patterns of the isoforms of FGFR2 and their ligands, FGFR2 plays a role in epithelial-mesynchyrnal interactions (Finch et al., Dev. Dyn. 203:223, 1995), so it is not surprising that knock-out of FGFR2IIIb in mice leads to severe embryonic defects and lethality (De Moerlooze et al., Development 127:483, 2000).
In addition to binding FGFR1-4 with high affinity, the FGFs bind to heparin sulfate proteoglycans (HSPG) with lower affinity. In fact, binding of FGF to heparin/heparin sulfate (HS) on the cell surface is required for signalling through the FGFRs. The interaction of FGF, especially FGF2, with FGFR and heparin has been extensively studied by X-ray crystallography and mutational analysis, and it is now believed that heparin/HS participates in the formation of a symmetric 2:2 FGF-FGFR dimer (Mohammadi et al., 2005), leading to receptor activation, autophophorylation and signal transduction.
The FGFs mediate a variety of responses in various cell types including proliferation, migration and differentiation, especially during embryonic development (Omitz et al., op. cit.), and in the adult are involved in tissue homeostasis and repair. For example, FGF2 stimulates proliferation of (i.e., is mitogenic for) certain cells including fibroblasts and endothelial cells and is an anti-apoptotic survival factor for certain cells such as neural cells (Okada-Ban, op. cit.). FGF2 also stimulates differentiation (morphogenesis) and migration (motility) of endothelial cells (Dow et al., Urology 55:800, 2000). Several FGFs, especially FGF1 and FGF2, are potent angiogenic factors (Presta et al., Cytokine and Growth Factor Rev. 16:159, 2005).
The importance of the FGF system in development has been highlighted by the discovery of numerous mutations in FGFR1-3 associated with human congenital skeletal disorders including the craniosynostosis syndromes (premature fusion of the cranial sutures) (Wilkie et al., Cytokine Growth Factor Revs 16:187, 2005). These genetic diseases are usually dominant because the associated mutations lead to gain-of-function, often by facilitating receptor dimerization. Notably, the severe craniosynostosis disorder Apart syndrome (AS) is associated with one of two mutations (Ser-252→Trp or Pro-253→Arg) in the conserved D2-D3 linker region of FGFR2 that increase ligand binding affinity (Ibrahimi et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 98:7182, 2001).
FGF2 and other FGFs have been reported to play a role in cancer, both by stimulating angiogenesis and tumor cells directly (Grose at al., Cytokine Growth Factor Revs. 16:179, 2005; Presta et al., op cit.). FGFR2IIIb RNA is expressed in many types of tumors (Finch et al., J. Natl, Cancer Inst. 98:812, 2006), often as a consequence of its expression in the corresponding normal tissues (Orr-Urtreger et al., Dev. Biol. 158:475, 1993). KGF (FGF7) and KGFR (FGFR2IIIb) are overexpressed in many pancreatic cancers (Ishiwata et al., Am. J. Pathol. 153: 213, 1998), and their coexpression correlates with poor prognosis (Cho et al., Am. J. Pathol. 170:1964, 2007). Somatic mutations of the FGFR2 gene were found in 12% of a large panel of endometrial (uterine) carcinomas, and in several tested cases were required for tumor cell survival (Dutt et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105:8713, 2008). In two tumors the FGFR2 mutation was found to be the same S252W substitution associated with Apert syndrome. Amplification and overexpression of FGFR2 is strongly associated with the undifferentiated, diffuse type of gastric cancer, which has a particularly poor prognosis, and inhibition of the FGFR2 activity by small molecule compounds potently inhibited proliferation of such cancer cells (Kunii et al., Cancer Res. 68:2340, 2008; Nakamura et al., Gastroenterol. 131:1530, 2006). FGFR2IIIb RNA was expressed in 16/20 epithelial ovarian cancers (EOCs) but not in normal ovarian surface epithelium (Steele et al., Oncogene 20:5878, 2001); and the FGFR2IIIb ligands FGF1, FGF7 and FGF10 induced proliferation, motility and protection form cell death in EOC cell lines (Steele at al., Growth Factors 24:45, 2006), suggesting that FGFR2IIIb may contribute to the malignant phenotype in ovarian cancer.
Only a limited number of monoclonal antibodies to FGFR2 have been reported. Fortin et al. (J. Neurosci. 25:7470, 2005) reported a blocking antibody to FGFR2, and Wei et al. (Hybridoma 25: 115, 2006) developed two mAbs specific for the IIIb form of FGFR2 (i.e, KGFR) that inhibited KGF-induced cell proliferation. Yayon et al. (WO2007/144893, 2006) disclosed an inhibitory mAb that binds both FGFR2 and FGFR3. R&D Systems has marketed since 2005 an anti-FGFR2 mAb that neutralizes activity in their assay, with preference for the IIIb form. However, there have been no reports of anti-tumor activity of antibodies against FGFR2 in vivo.